The Winter Solstice
by masterreloaded
Summary: With his memory in shambles, an aura apprentice is told the key to his future and past memories can be found at the tournament of the Winter Solstice. Will he prevail and become an aura guardian or miss his opportunity of finding out who he really is? Rating: T mild language/drug reference, romance
1. The beginning

May 22nd, 2013

A fisherman reeled his net in onto the tiny dingy he had at sea, a grand catch of many magikarp and even some goldeen! So much so that he would have a few spare to take home to the wife. He gleamed as he started to sort the pokemon into containers for the trip home.

Looking above he scrunched his eyebrows, clouds were coming in fast, it looked to be a perfect day when he set out.

He quickly put away his catch and started to row back to the shore of cinnabar, not wanting to be left out at sea if a storm was on it's way.

He nervously rowed and kept his eye on the clouds, they were moving fast and the darkness it brought looked malicious, his heart raced and his palms were sweaty, he started to doubt making it back to shore when the waves started to get choppy and rough.

Thunder echoed as the clouds made it above his head and past him, the air was cold and the water was freezing. The waves were getting more violent and the darkness kept creeping towards him, he stopped rowing and knelt into the boat, praying to arceus that he would make it out okay.

The sounds of the storm bombarded his ears, the waves ridiculed him as they slapped across his body, until he heard a low rumble, it shook the boat and stilled the waves. The fisherman looked around and saw the seas calmed, the rumble continued to rattled the boat and rippled the water, he was absolutely terrified.

At first it was faint, but it grew in sound as the seconds passed, a hum? Or maybe a whistle?

He felt a disturbance beneath the boat and looked to the sides, the water was moving, towards the north, a big creature disturbing the current below. He heard the sound again, this time an almost angelic hum that varied in tone entered his ear drums, fading in volume as the water slowed down.

The waves did not stir again and the fisherman waited a few minutes before grabbing his oars and rowing as fast as he could back home.

A young boy stood upon a hill that overlooked the small town of Pallet. The sun was dipping below the horizon and time was too important to be standing around. He gripped the bill of his hat in one hand while the other reached for the lone red and white capsule attached to his belt. Picking it off his belt and enlarging the ball he whistled sharply up to the sky and threw the capsule a few feet in front of him, a white light engulfed the area, the light quickly took shape into a large winged lizard, it's orange skin glowing in the evening with a large fire flickering at the tip of it's tail.

From the bushes to the boys right a small yellow creature shot out and landed on the his shoulders, his closest companion Pikachu, his oldest and most loyal pokemon. The lizard in front of them bellowed out towards the sky and flapped it's wings repeatedly. The boy walked to the lizard, patting it on the side of it's snout once and flashed a toothy grin that was barely visible underneath a wool scarf.

"Ready to fly charizard?" The boys voice was gentle, although a little raspy.

The pokemon shot a steady stream of fire into the sky and roared, it couldn't wait any longer.

"How about you Pikachu?"

The pokemon on his shoulder nuzzled up against his cheek and chirped in agreement while sparks danced from across to his trainers making the hair on the back of his next flair out.

"We've got a long flight, better get in the pack buddy." The small rodent nudged its trainer and slid it's way into the backpack, the boy zipped it shut to keep his pal warm and placed it on his back.

The charizard knelt down and lowered it's head so the boy could easily situate himself onto it's shoulders and back. Once situated he gave the pokemon a light tap on its side with his foot, the lizard outstretched his wings and flapped them forcefully to gain some altitude off the ground before shooting up into the air heading north whilst gaining speed with each flap of it's tremendous wings.

The boy sat up straight once in the air and turned to face the town of pallet, his hometown where he started his journey and made many memories with friends and family, the fading sights only brought more sorrow and sadness as he moved further and further away.

He removed the hat from his head and stared at it intensely, the colors had long since faded, but his very heart and soul were connected to this hat that had been through many adventures and hardships on his journeys across the many lands of this world.

Once the charizard reached a steady altitude he flapped his wings with great power and propelled further north to their destination. When pallet was barely visible the boy averted his gaze from his hat towards the dipping sun that cast a dark purple and orange glow throughout the skies, he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily, the charizard looked over its shoulder briefly to check on it's trainer only to get a reassured smile and thumbs up.

The boy spurred the charizard on it's side and pointed upwards, the lizard didn't hesitate as both of them disappearing into the clouds above.

A few seconds later a hat fell through the puffy mist of the cloud the pokemon and trainer disappeared into and lazily made it's way back down to the outskirts of pallet town.

Not too far a behind, a great shadow snaked across the ground, vanishing only a few seconds after the hat was nestled on the ground.

December 16th, 2017

"The time has come young one, the end of your destiny awaits you at the Indigo Plateau. We have provided your credentials and accommodations for the upcoming event. Now go forth and fulfill what you were born to do."

"I understand, thank you."

The young man stood up and bowed his head before turning on his heel and exiting the small conference room.

A shadowed figure emerged from the far end of the room, his boots resonating on the stone walls before stopping next to the woman.

"The boy is ready, but will he succeed?"

"Only time will tell."

The two stood in silence before vanishing into thin air, a darkish grey matter resembling their outline being the only thing left in the room.

The young man stepped out into the courtyard of the small fortress, a beautiful day to be honest, the sun was positioned perfectly above the open grounds making the flowers and small vegetation that survived the light snow gleam beautifully. A few butterfree fluttered through the yard as a couple rattata scurried past the mans feet, the local wildlife here contained a variety of small rodents and insect pokemon year round, the birds fly through during their migration but that is only temporarily. Pokemon and human are one here, they co exist and understand one another on a different plateau than normal people or trainers.

These were the Aura guardians, a handful of humans that possessed a unique ability that they used for helping humans and pokemon in need all around the world. Knowledge of aura is a closely guarded secret with the only known records being held by the council itself.

The young man took a deep breath and relaxed his body in the warm sun, he expanded his aura and gazed at his surroundings that were now tinted in a dark blue matter, each highlighted differently to it's own accord, humans having brighter hues than inanimate objects. He continued his search until he came across three small bodies of a light blue off in the distance to his right, he shuffled his feet and repositioned the pack on his back before making his way across the courtyard and onto the front gates of town, the same place as the three bodies of light.

"Hey, give that back! That's mine!"

"Finders keepers!"

Two children were fighting over a wooden toy, while a third was sitting a few feet away, his eyes lazily looking at the other two.

"I was playing with that!" A young girl screamed at the boy currently holding a toy high above his head.

"No you weren't!" The boy said back to the girl, sticking his tongue out.

"Hey Satoshi! Satoshi!" The young boy sitting down noticed the man walking towards their group and called out to him excitedly.

"Satoshi! Can you show us the trick again?" The young girl asked him, completely forgetting about the toy that the boy dropped as he ran over to satoshi with the other children.

Satoshi smiled and plopped down to the ground with his legs crossed, he motioned for the kids to do the same as he rolled us the sleeve of his cloak, his arms riddled with a faint blue tattoo like design that started from his hands and up his arm.

"Alright, but this is the last time, I mean it!" Satoshi crossed his arms and feigned annoyance.

"Promise!" All three kids shouted in unison.

Satoshi smiled and clapped his hands once then spaced them apart, his right hand steady above his heart and his left to the bottom of his ribs. He took a deep breath and released it, a small blue piece of matter sprung to life between his hands, glowing faintly and flickering in and out of reality. The man struggled to keep the ball afloat and gritted his teeth as he focused on it.

"Come on! Enough games Satoshi!"

"Pleeaassee!"

"What gives?"

The young man snickered as the small piece of matter began to glow a mesmerizing blue and float perfectly still in between his hands, the kids eyes went wide with amazement as the ball began to grow and slowly rotate in the air. It made its way in circles in between the mans hand and picked up speed with each passing second before it was going so fast that a complete ring was all anyone could see of the blue matter. The kids laughed and squealed at the accomplishment of the young mans aura, their excitement grew when another ring broke off of the original above and below to make a total of three rings in between his hands.

The children stared in awe as the aura between his hands slowed to a halt, leaving three small spheres of aura floating between his hands. The young man lightly blew on the spheres making them sway towards the children, each of them gladly closing their eyes as the small spheres made their way to each childs forehead where it seemed to burst like a bubble.

The children opened their eyes to a world of color and beauty, the aura now flowing through them and their sight enhancing it to the peak of it's power.

"This is so cool!" The young girl looked at her hands and giggled before running off towards the court yard

"Thanks satoshi! I'm going to go find some pokemon!" The eldest of the bunch ran off as well, seeking out the local pokemon of the village.

The third child stood at the gate and looked across the open plains, his eyes locked onto the horizon and the pokemon that were unseen by normal vision and his smile stretched from ear to ear, he reveled at the sight before him and turned back to the satoshi.

"Is this really what you see? What else can you do?" The young boy looked up at the man, his smile still wide and his eyes full of intrigue. The young man laughed heartily and ruffled the kids hair.

"I know quite a bit little one. You will learn in due time."

The boy nodded his head and ran away laughing happily to go join his friends in the court yard.

Satoshi stood at the front of the gate and sighed, three peaceful years had gone by too quickly and he really did not want to leave his home, but he had to, the elders had decided.

He placed two fingers to his mouth and whistled sharply then slung his knapsack off his shoulder and rummaged through it until he found a small red and white capsule. He enlarged the small ball and looked around the clearing until a small yellow Pikachu burst through the shrubs and made a bee line to him, the small pokemon chittering and zapping away as it made it's way up the young mans body and onto his shoulder.

"Hey buddy, how is everything out there?"

"Pi pi pikachu."

"Is that so? I guess we'll have to keep in close contact with sophie while we're away." Satoshi scratched under the pikachu chins making it's ears stand up and electricity spark around his hand and make it's way up his arm.

A dark yellow and brown man like pokemon materialized beside the duo, it held spoons in each hand and it's elegant mustache gleamed in the sun.

"Impeccable timing, I was just about to have our friend fly us to the plateau but teleporting will save a tremendous amount of energy, would you help us?"

The alakazam stared at the young man before nodding his head and crossing his spoons in front of himself, the trainer and both pokemon were enveloped in a light blue hue before disappearing into thin air.

December 17th, 2017

"Welcome everybody to the Winter Solstice tournament!"

A deafening roar came from the surrounding crowd inside the stadium, a whopping full house of fifty thousand people had come from near and far to see the heated battles between the competing trainers, cameras surrounded the stadium as they zoomed in on certain groups of people and the announcer himself for the people at home that could not make it. The announcer straightened his tie out and held his hands out for the crowd to settle down before continuing his speech.

"Every other year we hold our Winter Solstice tournament in hopes of bringing out the best of the best from trainers around the world! We have over three hundred trainers competing this year and there sure are a few well known names ladies and gentleman! Who will be crowned the winner and have a shot at challenging a champion caliber Pokemon trainer for their title?"

The last sentence put everyone in the stands into a frenzy, it was tradition for the winner to challenge a champion of their choosing a few days after they had one the tournament, no challenger has ever won, but it was a spectacular sight to see a champion fight in public.

"And now, the lighting of the eternal cup!"

The crowd roared again as a man dressed in a white jumpsuit ran through the tunnel and onto the field, a torch in one hand as the other waved to the everyone in the stadium, the cameras zoomed in on him as he made his way across the field and up the steps to the eternal cup that was perched on the southern wall of the stadium and looked out onto the indigo plateau. The man reached the top and took in the sight before him, the people in the stadium cheering him on and the people outside of the stadium filling the streets to the brink with festivities and foods.

It was an absolute honor to light the eternal cup, sometimes having one person do it for years and years before surrendering their position to a younger new face.

He took one last glance before placing the torch on the edge of the cup, the fire from the torch taking life and expanding onto the rim of the cup like a wildfire, the inside of the cup almost exploding with energy as the flames easily rose to a five foot height.

The crowd roared and the man beamed, this was what it was all about.

"Now this is what it's all about." Satoshi stood proud before the hammock he had placed between the bed frame and wall. He had arrived the day before and was now settling into his 'dorm', almost all of the trainers stayed in select buildings designated for them during the tournaments, some stayed with family while others spent their money on nicer accommodations, but that was unnecessary. At least he had the room to himself, that much he could thank the elders, if he was going to figure out what was needed to fulfill his destiny he would need all the peace and quiet he could have.

Satoshi tested out the hammock and smiled, already looking forward for the nights sleep. He was used to sleeping outdoors with nature and the calming sensation of being closer to the primal life, but he was here on a mission. That mission? Discover his true destiny.

Many a night he thought long and hard on what that meant and why the elders sent him here instead of a normal aura guardian assessment test like the pupils before him, but he didn't think too much into it, he could only remember his life at the castle and town he lived in for the past three years, before that, nothing. The elders explained that it would all become clear once this tournament was over.

"Alakazam, would you mind keeping guard for a little bit longer, I need to meditate." The human like pokemon stared into satoshis eyes and wordlessly conveyed his approval. Satoshi smiled and pulled a pokeball from his knapsack, releasing it from his palm and sitting cross legged on the floor. From the pokeball emerged a small dog like pokemon, his fur on his legs, chest, ears and around his eyes, like a mask, were a charcoal black. The rest of it's fur was a golden yellow sheen, unlike any riolu that had been seen for decades, many people at the village thought this as a sign of tremendous good luck and prosperity throughout the trainers life.

"Alright riolu. it's time to meditate." Satoshi closed his eyes and focused his breathing, the young riolu doing the same as it sat down in front of its trainer. The young pup loved its owner and showed it's countless times through it's never ending training with aura and desire to prove it's worth to him through his battle prowess, getting countless praise and talk of evolution as his training continued.

The two of them focused in on eachothers aura and began to meditate, the world around them warping and contorting, two immense energies trying to become one and balance the other out. It was an advanced practice that many aura guardians did with their pokemon to further their auras and become one with one another, many tried but failed, not being able to fully adapt with their pokemons aura and becoming closer.

The two of them continued their focused breathing and expansion of aura while the alakazam near the door stared at them though observing eyes, it had been around since the beginning of satoshis adventure, although it was only an abra at that time. No matter how long it spent time with satoshi, it continued to observe and monitor, learning something new and profound about its trainer with each passing day. He stood still as his master and other pokemon were training, keeping guard and watching diligently.

The ceremony had ended in tremendous fashion and excitement, the trainers present went back to their dorms or went into town to celebrate their invitations and hope for the eternal glory of winning this tournament. Most would not see past the first round, many more onto the second, but they held their heads high full of hope.

"All i'm saying is that we have some pretty good odds of making it past the quarter finals! I'm not trying to be cocky." A man in his early twenties walked past the carts and booths set up for the event, his two friends behind him, both amazed at the sights and sounds of the city and uninterested in what their friend had to say, they would much rather eat instead of hearing the constant talk about winning the tournament.

"Look gary, it would sound less cocky if you didn't keep saying what you're going to do when you win this tournament." A man in his mid twenties retorted back while rolling his eyes. He knew his friend was a competent trainer and could make it pretty far, but the constant talk what ifs was getting rather annoying.

"What about you Misty? I think a beautiful woman such as yourself could make it to the finals."

"I think I could. Just don't cry too hard when I beat you in front of thousands of people." A red headed woman, freshly turned twenty just last week, rolled her eyes playfully at her friends antics. It was cute, but it was getting old.

"Alright guys, I think it's time to call it a night, the battles start tomorrow and we wouldn't want to be off our game." The small group agreed and made their way back to their reserved rooms, exhaustion and fatigue setting in from the long trip here and the pain of waiting to register, but picked up a few to go dinners from separate booths.

As they entered the building, brock said his goodbyes and went down below, his registered room was set below the main floor which accommodated larger pokemon if need be. Gary and misty walked up the stairs and down the hall, both were in the same wing but on separate sides.

"So misty, wanna head back to my room? We could eat dinner, go over some battle plans and watch some battle re runs?" He was laying it on thick, but he couldn't help himself, he was the grandson of the most highly respected pokemon professor in the surrounding regions, whatever he wanted, he practically got.

"Not tonight gary, another time this week?" She was tired and wanted to sleep, nothing but her bed sounded good.

"Alright then, i'll see you in the morning." He gave her a close hug and left to find his room.

Misty sighed heavily and pressed her back to the wall, ever since she spilled the beans to one of her friends that gary might be date able and kind of cute, it's been blown out of proportion. Ever since ash went off on another journey without telling anyone, everyone has been slowly moving on with their lives without the presence of ash, a different path than anyone expected honestly. While ash guided them through a path of easy living and simplicity, they were now on their way to bigger ambitions, she herself being close to becoming a water pokemon master.

She missed him dearly, the only proof of him still living and continuing this adventure were the letters he sent each year on the exact day. May 22nd. Only his mother and professor oak received these letters and they were all the same, stating that ash was doing great and continuing his journey in some unknown land, but he was safe and he would be back soon, promising countless times.

She walked down the hall to her room, mind wrapped around the enigma that was ash and that she needed to move on with her life without him in it for the time being, when he came back it would be like old times. no doubt.

Who was she kidding, they were all adults, the ash she remembers was a kid. Carefree and living out his life dream in anyway possible.

She stopped in her tracks as in front of the door adjacent to her room, she didn't know why but she found herself staring at it, room151 was the nameplate on the door, nothing out the ordinary about that?

She knocked on the door a few times before realizing what she was doing, a small yelp and hurried feet were heard from behind the door,. She hoped she wasn't waking anyone up and was already backing up to dash into her room out of embarrassment when the door creeped open

"Hello?" A young man stepped out of the door way, his voice pleasantly deep and slightly raspy, it made her ears tingle.

"I'm terribly sorry, I hope I didn't wake you!" Misty felt terrible for waking up her temporary neighbor, it was well past midnight and she didn't want to be rude.

"It's alright, I was still awake, is everything alright?" I hint of concern showed through his voice as he stepped out fully, most of his features were hidden behind a scarf and hat that hung low, but his eyes danced with a deep blue, it reminded her of the ocean. The door to his room opening and a bipedal dog pokemon stood a few feet back of the doorway, it was slightly intimidating but as she stared at it more it's demeanor became friendlier, the more she looked at it the more she felt at peace.

"Everything is fine. I honestly don't know why I actually knocked, I was in deep thought and must have spaced out."

The man cocked his head to the side and glared at something out of sight while muttering a few words under his breath.

"Spacing out sucks, I can tell you that. I'm satoshi by the way." He turned back towards her and held out his hand, misty took it and was surprised with how soft and gentle it was compared to the other trainers introducing themselves or higher ups of the league, she wouldn't have guessed with all the tattoos that rittled his hands.

"Misty, it's nice to meet you, and again i'm really sorry, it wont happen again I promise."

"Not a problem, if you need anything just give me a knock." Satoshi bowed his head slightly and walked back into his room, closing the door and locking it quickly, the girl staying across from him was beautiful, what were the odds of that?

"Nice going Alakazam, what have I told you about interfering with peoples scrambled thoughts? It's not nice, for that I think I should leave you out of this upcoming tournament, teach you a lesson on manners I suppose." The young man smirked at the humanoid pokemon which let out a small gruff and walked to the other side of the room.

"Come on riolu, let's get some rest, we can pick up where we left off tomorrow." The small dog pokemon hopped onto the trainers bed and made itself comfy on the untaken side while satoshi climbed into his hammock and shut out the lights, sleep taking him blissfully into the night.

Misty stood outside in the hallway for a few more seconds before quickly unlocking her door and dashing in, first night in and she manages to make herself look like an idiot in front of one of her competitors. She rubbed her cheeks and chuckled to herself before changing into her pajamas and finishing her dinner. She then turned on the television to watch some news before sleep befell her.

"What an interesting development, I was hoping the pieces would fall into place quick, but not this quick!" A murky figure hovered in the darkness outside of the compound that the trainers resided.

"I suppose I should keep my distant and see how this plays out." The figure giggled to itself before vanishing into thin air.


	2. First battle

It was still early in the morning when misty woke up, the sun was hidden behind the clouds but she had an over whelming force telling her to get up, no matter how many times she tried to close her eyes and go back to sleep, it would never come. She sighed as she got out of bed and put on a heavy hoodie and boots, if she was up this early she might as well see as much of the scenery as she could, it's not everyday that she was at the plateau, only coming every few months for league meetings.

She grabbed her pack with her pokemon and headed out the door to the stairs at the end of the hall, surprised to see some trainers outside already in the weather at this hour, but then again so was she. At the ground floor she made herself some coffee and walked outside, the cold wind nipped at her neck and face, the coffee in her hands was nice and hot and she hoped for it to cool down sooner to help with the chilly weather.

Misty made her way around the center and onto the paths leading through the indigo plateau and local town, she opted to take the one closest to the border as you could see the land of johto and untamed wilderness before newbark town, the mountains were beautiful yet intimidating, it brought out ones inner most trainer to explore and conquer the unknown in a different land, but most people contained that desire these days.

Majority of the trainers these days would take man made paths to their destinations to make their 'journey' quicker and more relaxed at their own pace. To misty that was missing the whole point of your journey, it was good to be camped out in the wilderness for days surrounded pokemon and live life to the fullest, everyone should experience that sort of pleasure in their life. She groaned to herself as the path opened up to a large platform shaped like a half circle that stood ten feet off the ground at the edge, it was covered in snow, two articuno statues stood guard at the entrance, their wings expanded and chest puffed out.

She started walking to the railing when, to her surprise, her 'neighbor' was there already, a coffee mug in his hand and a small pikachu in the hood of his jacket, it reminded her of ash to be honest, she can't remember the last time she saw one that wasn't ash's.

She walked to the edge of the platform a few feet away from satoshi, and stared out onto the land, watching as the steam from her coffee blended in with the snow from the landscape. She could not keep replaying memories of her making her way through lands like this with her friends when she was younger, a smile crept onto her face as she looked upon the land.

"Kind of gives you an itch huh?" Misty turned her head to the side, satoshi was leaning up against the rail and taking a sip of his coffee, his eyes glanced to her and he smiled, it was hard to tell with that thick scarf and hat, but she thought he did.

"Pardon me?" Her face scrunched up in confusiuon.

"Looking out there probably makes a few trainers want to explore on a whim, stay out there a few weeks and really explore the land, it's almost like an itch."

"I guess you could say that. I was just thinking about how I used to go headfirst into the unknown when I was younger."

Satoshi chuckled and took another sip of his coffee before turning and making his way to a bench that sat three feet from the rail, easy for people to sit and still enjoy the sights, he brushed off the snow and took a seat, the cold not seeming to bother him.

"That's good, exploring the unknown gives quite the thrill." He took another sip of his coffee and sighed, the wisps of air coming from his mouth blowing away quickly with the wind.

"Are you still traveling?" The question took her off guard but she smiled at satoshi, it was a simple question, but one she hadn't thought of him to ask.

"No, I stopped traveling many years ago, I run the cerulean city gym and that takes up most of my time. How about yourself?" She walked over to the same bench and asked if she could take a seat next to satoshi, he brushed off the rest of the snow form the bench and scooted over, taking another sip of his coffee while settling in.

"Indeed I am, one exploration that I hope will never end." Satoshi stared out into the wilderness, his deep blue eyes flared with anticipation and excitement, each going hand in hand for a glorious outcome.

"Well that's good, you seemed to be at the age where most trainers quit and find real jobs. I had a friend that had the same outlook as you, always reaching for the stars."

"Real jobs you say? The life of a trainer and explorer is a job, you yourself as a child must have said you were going to do this forever and daydreamed about being a pokemon trainer until you were too old to walk."

"It's a big part of your life no doubt, but to experience it once is good enough for some people." Herself included.

"Tell me misty, what's the one thing you remember about your travels that always comes to mind, whether it be a busy city, training your pokemon or sight seeing. What do you remember the most?"

She was caught off guard by his sudden 'attack' on her past, but it was a simple question none the less and thought nothing of it.

"The stars. I remember you could lay out on the grass during the summer and gaze at the stars all night." She looked towards the sky with a smile on her face, many memories were made underneath those stars during her travels.

"I see, the stars are quite the site away from the city, you could see majority of the night sky from my village, not very close to a distinct town so the scenery is quite pleasant."

"Where are you from satoshi?" Misty was curious where he was from, he was rather mysterious but friendly and easy to get a long with.

"I could tell you, but the details won't do itself any justice, you'll just have to see it with your owns eyes on your next journey." Satoshi stood up and stretched out his back and arms, waking the slumbering Pikachu in his hood in the process. The small rodent yawned and scratched it's face before climbing onto satoshis shoulder, giving a small chirp to misty.

"Goodmorning Pikachu, sleep well?" The small pokemon nodded and nuzzled it's cheek against his trainers.

"It's so cute, a friend of mine I traveled with had a pikachu, they were inseparable." She smiled as memories of ash came flooding into her brain.

"Did he now? Smart trainer, pikachu are underestimated, but if trained properly can be quite the troublemaker on the field."

Misty looked at the man before her, his attitude and personality was absolutely calming and soothing, other than his blue eyes she couldn't see what he looked like behind the hat and scarf.

"I'm sorry to leave but my battle starts in half an hour in stadium three, I have to be going now. Thank you for the talk." He nodded his head politely and shook her hand then turned around and started to walk a few feet, before turning back around to face misty.

"You remember looking at the stars when you were younger and feeling at one with nature?"

"Yeah?"

"How much more do you think you would appreciate it now that you've had to time to mature and take things for granted unlike you did when you were younger?"

"I don't know? It's too big of a risk to find out. But my gut tells me it would be great!"

"I'd listen to it, I can guarantee it will change your life." His dark blue eyes seemed to gleam and dance in the gloomy cloud covered sunlight, like waves in the ocean, it was a mesmerizing sight that misty reveled in.

His words made her rethink her entire outlook on another journey. Satoshi turned around and walked off down the path towards town and his battle, should she go to his battle? Or will he think it would be weird?

As he rounded the corner misty finished her coffee and decided to go watch, wondering if his battle style was like his personality, calm and relaxing. Her phone rang a few minutes into her walk, most likely brock or gary.

"Heya red, wanna grab some breakfast before our battles? Brock says he's getting hungry."

"Sounds great, where at?"

Gary gave her the directions and she headed off at a quicker pace, if she ate fast enough maybe she could catch satoshis battle half way through.

"In the red corner we have Anna Rose from Cerulean city!" The announcer spoke into the microphone from the stands.

Close to one hundred people were in the stands of the small arena, most of the viewers would either be going to trainer battles that news outlets claimed as the favorites to win or ones that had the best odds from previous tournament placings.

"In the blue corner we have Satoshi from Rota."

The crowd cheered and applauded for the trainers as the match started, each giving each other a handshake before heading to their respective corners.

"Tangela, let's do this!"

"Leafeon! Go!"

The two pokemon materialized on the battle field and stared each other down.

"Tangela use leech seed!" The pokemon planted two vines in the ground and shot countless seeds towards the leafeon.

"Double team." The command was simple and relaxed.

Multiple leafeon appeared on the field and began to spring around the field confusing the tangela as to which one was real.

"Tangela use vine whip now!" The command was rushed and fierce.

"Quick attack leafeon."

The small verdant pokemon sprinted directly at the tangela, the real copy behind the tangela all along, and smashed into it making the pokemon fly a few feet in the air before crashing into the ground. The tangela hopped up quickly ready for more although it was taking heavier breaths.

"Leafeon has struck first and now commands the battle field, how will the red corner react to this?" The announcer proclaimed as the spectators watched closely.

"Tangela usa stun spore!"

"Use sand attack!" Satoshi was hoping this would cancel out most of the spores and take out this pokemon in the next move if he could plan it right.

The plan worked perfectly, the amount of debris that leafeon kicked up had blocked out most of the spores, the rest didn't make it past the halfway mark of the field.

"Look at the brilliance on satoshi from the blue corner, that sand attack cancelled out the stun spore completely!" The crowd was getting more active as the battle progressed.

"Tangela use grass knot!"

"Protect!"

Leafeon was able to get the protective move off in just the right time as massive roots sprung life from the ground and bombarded the pokemon, the makeshift bubble strained for a few seconds.

"Now use aerial ace!" Satoshis command was calm yet quick, not wanting to miss the window he had planned out go to waste. The pokemon sprung to action as another root smashed through the protect, it ran across the field and closed in on the tangela at break neck speeds. It slashed at the pokemon in the mid section, sending it careening to the side of the field where it did not get up.

"What a spectacular tactic! The tangela stood no chance against satoshis plan of attack. Trainer, send out your next pokemon!" The crowd cheered loudly at the sight, hoping to see more. The crowd now housing three more spectators as misty brock and gary joined the seats around the field to watch satoshis battle.

"Exactly how do you know this guy?" Brock asked misty as they sat down a in the middle sections of the stands.

"He's staying across from me, mentioned that his battle was this morning and I wanted to check out the competition."

Brock and gary both nodded as they looked onto the field and waited for the other trainer to release her pokemon.

"Alright, let's do this ursaring!"

She threw her ball onto the field and it burst open, the white light bright and the energy forming into a massive form of a bear. The ursaring roared and stared down the small grass pokemon, it stood at six feet at least.

"The trainer chooses an ursaring! An intense pokemon with immense power, how will this match play out?" The commentator was getting excited of the upcoming battle.

"Ursaring use slash!" The bear pokemon sprinted down the field, it's speed underwhelming but it's power behind the slash would be like a freight train, unable to stop.

"Leafeon dodge and use swords dance." The little verdant pokemon hopped around as the ursaring came closer and jumped around the bears arm and sped down the field as the pokemon stumbled after the massive hit missed. Leafeon powered up the attack, small leaves shaking off her body as they formed make shift swords above her head before crumbling away and falling onto her, disappearing as they fell onto the ground.

"Ursaring use hammer arm!"

"Leafeon grass knot!" Vines shot out from around leafeaon and raced towards the bear, shooting in and out of the ground, varying in size. The bear smashed it's way through a few of them but one came from behind and snagged it's foot, sending the bear to the ground with a mighty crash.

"Leafeon sunny day!" The pokemon shot a small sphere into the high rafters of the stadium and a bright light filled the area, a 'makeshift' sun now in the presence of everyone and the temperature rising a few degrees. The ursaring hacked and slashed at the vines and continued it's rampage, hell bent on smashing the smaller pokemon into the ground.

"Solarbeam." The command was almost unheard, it traveled on the wind and hung in the air as the leafeon formed a small golden yellow sphere in it's mouth, holding in the attack as it grew larger and larger in size. The ursaring smashing the ground as it made it's way towards the small pokemon, trying it's best to disrupt it's opponent and finish it.

The leafeon held it's ground and fired the beam at ursaring, hitting it square in the chest and causing it to make a dead stop in the middle of the field knocked out.

"Would you believe that folks! Leafeon and satoshi are the winners!"

The crowd cheered as both trainers met in the middle of the field and shook hands, conveying few words as they departed the field.

"That was pretty good, nice use of tactics." Gary said aloud and stood up. "Now let's get to our battles." He flashed a smile at his friends.

"Sounds good, I think mine starts in a few hours." Brock stated as he took out a small book to check the battle times.

"Mines not until later this evening, i'll catch up with you guys later!" Misty was already half way down the stands as she spoke

"Call me!" Gary shouted out to her before leaving with brock.

"Satoshi!" Misty called out to the young man walking out of the stadium, few people stopping to congratulate him on his win.

"Hey Misty! Thanks for coming!"

"No problem, you were amazing out there, sorry I missed your first match, but that leafeon you used was absolutely amazing!"

"That she is, she's my most recent addition to the team, but she has adapted well."

The two walked out of the stadium and began walking towards town, the outskirts of town was at least ten minutes.

"Do you battle today?"

"Tonight actually, i'll be in stadium four at seven." Silence hung throughout the air as the pair walked down the path, seconds turned into minutes as they enjoyed the walk as the snow crunched beneath their feet.

"Well this has been quite riveting misty but I have to get going for now, i'll catch you at your match tonight."

"Are you hungry? They should be serving lunch about now at the restaurants in town." Even though she had just eaten, her comfortable silence with satoshi was pleasant and relaxing, she didn't want it to end to be honest.

"I appreciate the invitation but I have a prior engagement to attend to today."

"Oh, no problem, I was just about to go get some food myself and figured i'd offer." Even though she had eaten no more than an hour before.

"I'd like to though if you don't mind, how about dinner after the preliminaries are over?" His voice was smooth and muffled do to his scarf tightly around his face still, his hat was held high and his dark blue eyes shone brightly even though it was a cloudy day, a few strands of his black hair poked out from beneath his hat, damp from the sweat of his previous battle.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Her cheeks darkened slightly and she giggled a little, it wasn't like her to joke around with someone she had only met, but with satoshi she felt at ease and confident.

"Something like that." Satoshis laugh resonated through the surrounding area. "I'll most likely be at my room so feel free to give it knock anytime."

Misty laughed and said she would swing by sometime soon and left to go find brock and garys to watch their matches.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to one of our finals matches of the day!" The stands held close to a thousand people all cheering and yelling as the announcer let the excitement levels build up before calling the match.

"In the blue corner we have misty, gym leader of cerulean city!" The crowd hollered and cheered as the red head waved to the crowd

"And in the red corner we have morty, the gym leader of ecruteak city!" The crowd cheered again as the two trainers met in the middle of the field and shook hands before departing to their sides of the field and choosing their pokemon.

"Trainers! Begin!"


	3. A Taste

Satoshi sat In the middle of his room, three of his Pokémon sat around him in a small circle, each eating their respective dinner for the night. The TV across the room was on and displaying the matches from earlier today, a surprising amount of prestigious trainers had lost to people that were unknown, until today. Himself included. They were playing a re run on his earlier match against Drake of the Orange Islands, a strong adversary who was projected to go far within the tournament, unfortunately the clip that was airing was of Satoshi and his Tauros demolishing an Onix and Electabuzz. The media was highlighting all of the 'major losses' of the day throughout the night, wanting to get a buzz around the area for more heated matches by either exaggerating stories or commentating harshly on some trainers. One that caught his eye was a gym v gym leader battle royal between Misty and Wallace. The stands were packed with the excitement of two very powerful water Pokémon trainers, and with her easy victory over Morty the day before she had become a fan favorite for the tournament. Misty had complete control of the battle and won with ease, her water Pokémon being on a top notch level from intense training, each in tune with its trainer and able to capitalize on its opponents weaknesses, two Water Pokémon masters in the making.

Satoshi had wanted to see the battle for himself, but some unforeseen circumstances had crossed his patch which did not allow him to attend. He glanced at his watch and stood up.

"Alright everyone, it's time."

The Pokémon around him stopped what they were doing and stared at their trainer, himself grabbing his pack, placing his cap on his head and the scarf around his neck.

"This time we won't fail." He glanced outside, the weather was picking up and didn't look as if it would be over soon. Now was the perfect time. He returned Riolu to his pokeball and motioned for Pikachu to jump into this pack. The small rodent jumped onto its trainers shoulder and licked his cheek before disappearing into the bag. He adjusted the pack and placed his hands together in front of him, bowing and reciting a small prayer before heading to the door and opening it.

"Zama." He spoke softly to the Alakzam following close behind him, the Pokémon giving his attention instantly, only hearing his nickname on rare occasions.

"I want total focus tonight my friend." The Pokémon nodded its head and gave a low gruff.

Satoshi walked out the room and came face to face with three unexpected individuals. He recognized one of them, but the other two he hadn't met yet.

"Hey Satoshi!" The red head nearly shouted at him, although only being a few feet from him. He flashed a peace sign and gave a head nod to the rest of the group before turned to make his leave

"He - wait up!" Misty grabbed onto his coat and held him in place. "Not even a hello? "

"I'm terribly sorry Misty, I am late for a meeting and didn't want to intrude on your celebration," he glanced at the bottles of wine each person had in their hand. Himself sticking out his and straightening out. "Satoshi. Pleasure to meet both of you."

"Brock, nice to meet you."

"Gary."

Both men shook the strangers hand and eyed him up and down, his blue eyes nearly radiating, the scarf that covered up his face and the hat that was probably an overkill, but there is always somebody who doesn't want their identity shown at a prestigious tournament for a crazy reveal if they make it deep in the tournament.

"Nice battle today by the way, your Leafeon looks like it is well trained."

"Thank you, she is a hard worker and trains often."

"Female? That's rather rare, how did you find her?"

"Another talk for another time friends, now if you'll excuse me.."

"What's with the get up stranger?" Gary muttered, always the one to be blunt and get to the point. Satoshi cocked his head to the side, himself now eyeing Gary up and down before shrugging and turning his head to the side and lifting his scarf a bit to reveal a tremendous scar that looked to run up to his face.

"Oh god, that killed my buzz." Gary said as he averted his eyes, the rest of the group doing the same.

Satoshi straightened himself up and snapped his fingers, disappearing instantly.

"Well. That wasn't weird at all." Gary said as he turned to the group, both of them giving him an eye before shaking their heads and heading into the room. "What? I was just curious!"

"You don't even know him and you light weight asked a personal question! He probably wears all that to hide that scar, it looks real bad." Brock said as he looked through drawers to find a bottle opener.

"But it's to be expected, you are the one and only, Gary oak."

"You can say that again." Gary looked at Misty and flashed a wink, herself giving one back.

* * *

"Come on red, just one night, i'll even sleep on the couch!"

"Not a chance Gary, you'll somehow end up in my bed in the middle of the night."

"You say that like its bad."

Misty blushed a little bit, I suppose it wouldn't...

 _"Alright buddy! You did great, we'll get them next time"_

"I'm sorry Gary, I just want to go to bed, i'm beat after the match today."

Gary sighed heavily and grabbed his things, giving misty a hug and peck on the cheek while muttering congratulations, then exiting and making way to his own room.

Misty closed the door and sighed heavily, no matter how many times she gets close to somebody, flashes of Ash will run through her mind, it could be the stupidest memory, but it will always put her in a bad mood. She didn't want to admit that she still has feelings for him, he's gone on an adventure without her, not even bothering to contact her! So why couldn't she commit. She bit her lip and went out the door to call Gary back but stumbled upon an unusual site.

Satoshi was standing at his door, his head against it, muttering to himself.

"Satoshi?" Misty whispered "Are you okay?"

"...yes.."

"...did you lock yourself out?"

"..no." He lifted his head and inhaled deeply and began to chuckle to himself before turning to face Misty.

"It's been a very long night, i'm sorry if i disturbed you." He was no longer wearing the scarf, but a medical mask, ones that people wear when they are sick or for bad weather and his hat was gone. It gave misty a better view of her neighbor, his black hair was mess, a cute one but a mess nonetheless. She couldn't see the scar, but his eyes were more visible now, they were brown? Earlier they were a shade of blue, was she that drunk?

"What happened to your scarf? And your hat?"

"I lost them."

"At your meeting?"

"Correct."

"By the way, i'm sorry for the way my friend acted earlier, he can be rather blunt at times."

"Not a problem."

Without his scarf she could now see more of his tattoos, odd shapes and symbols that meshed together.

Satoshi gathered that she was looking and pulled his shirt down a tad to partially reveal a large chest piece of a Pokémon. It's intriquite design was unique and well done. She blushed as he did it, but was curious and wanted to see more to be honest.

"Not a lot of people see these, so don't go telling everyone now." He said as the door to his room opened

"What is it?" She asked

"That, is a mystery. Are you the one to solve mysteries or leave them be for someone else to discover?" He said over his shoulder as the door shut behind him.

Misty flushed, it's been a while since someone made her feel that way. Her body tingled when he spoke those words, rolling off the tongue smoothly and clearly.

Misty liked mysteries.

* * *

Satoshi discarded his shirt and look upon himself in the mirror, his body riddled with ink pertaining long forgotten symbols and Pokémon of lore. The largest one being on his chest. Many of these Pokémon were only spoken in myth and legends that were passed on from generation to generation of trainers, some claiming to have seen or battled these legendary beasts while many said to have seen a quick glimpse, not having another sighting in hundreds of years.

The burden to bear, that's what Satoshi thought. He had met many of these Pokémon, they were real.

And they were dangerous.

* * *

"I don't think he's ready, the way he battled was unlike him. He won't make it."

"Patience. Have faith in the young one, for if he fails. We all do."


	4. Help

Dangerous. Malicious? However you wanted to describe them, you wouldn't be that far off. Legendary Pokémon have that stature for very specific reasons. Many controling aspects of nature in the Pokémon world, keeping the piece between realms and watching over Pokémon. Human interaction is not programmed into their nature and they will fight without hesitation if provoked. Satoshi knew that for a fact, although he meant no harm when he encountered the beasts, they still put up a fight as if he was their to do harm.

He stared at his chest piece in the mirror, a large wyvern type Pokémon with great wings that stretched across his torso and wrapped around his sides, the edges reaching his back with hints of silver and blue edging.

The Guardian Of the Sea.

He cringed as he stared at it, it always made him uncomfortable when he looked too long at any of his tattoos, this one especially. He sighed heavily as he released his Riolu into the room.

"It's time to meditate little one."

The two of them sat across from each other and closed their eyes, steadying their breath and focusing on one another.

* * *

"All i'm saying is that it's possible, have you seen the way they act in public?!"

"Impossible, there is absolutely no way they are an item."

Misty hung behind Brock and Gary as they discussed the ever so riveting matter of who Cynthia was with, rumor has it being Flint. She rolled her eyes as the two boys gossiped like little girls, what was supposed to be a nice dinner of strategy and battle readiness talk turned into a dinner of useless banter between the two men. She sighed as she looked around the area, little shops and restaurants littered the grounds, some being here for over a hundred years selling valuable items to trainers making their way to the heart of the Indigo Plateau, she wished ash was here, he was always at his best at the league tournaments, battle wise and emotionally.

She was lost in her thought when the group came to a small hole in the wall restaurant and sat at an available table outside, ordering drinks when the waitress came by and made small talk to pass the time.

"Any updates on your mysterious neighbor Misty? He gave me the creeps the other day" Gary said, finishing his glass of water.

"No. I caught him in the hallway after you two had left, he was acting kinda weird, I got to see a few of his tattoos though. The man is covered."

"Covered?"

"Except his face? I don't know, he showed me a glimpse of one on his chest, it was huge. I wouldn't doubt that he has them everywhere." Misty took a swig of water and continued.

"He wasn't wearing his hat or scarf though. His hair was unruly and dark black, brown eyes, still wore a mask over his face."

"So far he has a rather interesting line up of Pokémon. We saw his Leafeon in battle, an Alakazam in the hall the other day, I wonder what else he could be hiding."

"He has a Pikachu, it's rather cute." Mist smiled as she again began to think of Ash and his Pikachu, she missed both of them dearly.

Misty looked down the street and saw the man in question sprinting down the street.

"Guys I have to go, i'll catch up with you later!" She grabbed her pack and started to run down the street where she last saw Satoshi.

Gary and Brock looking at each other confused before resuming their talk.

* * *

Satoshi opened his eyes wide, sweating beading down his forehead, his chest heaving in an out. The room was dark, the setting sun barely giving any illumination into the room, he glanced at the watch on his wrist and stood up quickly, grabbing a hat and scarf as he ran out of his room. His meditation with Riolu had proven to be fruitful, a mysterious presence was nearby, calling to him, beckoning.

He slowed to a brisk walk as he went through the main lobby, many sideways glances and glances were turned to him but he paid them no mind, he was determined to find the powerful aura that was emitting within the area. His hope was that it was an answer to his quest here.

Once out of the building he sprinted down the street, passing many people and Pokémon as he focused his aura and let it guide him to his destination.

Many twists and turns later he was at the edge of the plateau, the Pokémon was close, but still about a mile into the wilderness, he again started to run, his aura once again guiding him as he ran past bushes and trees that littered the grounds.

Minutes later he came to a clearing, the moon was still low in the sky and the sounds of the forest were eerily quiet. He expanded his aura and detected the person he was looking for.

" **Hello**."

A deep voice entered his self conscious, it didn't sounds malicious, but he wouldn't let his guard down.

"Greetings, how are you tonight?" Satoshi calmed his breathing and stood tall, his hands hovering over his pokeballs connected to his belt on his back.

" **I am well, thank you**." A figure standing close to seven feet in height emerged from the edge of the forest, hovering about a foot off of the ground.

" **You will not be needing those."** He once again spoke to Satoshi, the pokeballs that were connected to his belt now hovering away from him and toward the figure.

Satoshi held out his hand and the pokeballs stopped, a blue aura encasing them.

"I beg to differ."

A battle ensued in the middle of the field, sparks of blue and purple clashed around the capsules as they hovered a couple feet from the ground. Moving back and forth between the two.

" **I assure you that I mean no harm, for i have come to help."**

"Taking my Pokémon doesn't seem very helpful."

The mysterious figure chuckled, the capsules caught between them then floating back towards satoshi as he too hovered closer to him.

"You're here to help me correct? I can sense a great aura about you. Tell me, what are you to help me with?"

The mysterious figure stopped ten feet from Satoshi and chuckled.

" **What do you believe in Satoshi?"**

"How do you know my name?"

" **I know many things. I know of your past. I know of your future."** The mysterious figure closed the gap between the two within a second

" **I know everything about you."**

* * *

Misty was standing at the edge of the forest, she had followed Satoshi here, but now she felt ridiculous, running after someone she didn't even know, even though her gut was screaming at her to continue to follow.

She shook her head and chuckled, she had come this far, she felt obligated to follow it through now.

She grabbed a pokeball from her hip and threw it in the air, the capsule exploding into a brilliance of white light, a Pokémon soon materializing beside her.

" _hya_ "

Her starmie hovered beside her, its back end twisting and turning as the red gem shone brightly in the night.

"I need you at the ready, we're going for a quick walk."

A flash of purple and blue light burst through the top of the tree line, reaching up towards the sky and dissipating quickly.

"Let's go!" Misty ran into the tree line, hoping Satoshi wasn't in trouble.

* * *

Satoshi grunted as he was pushed back a couple feet. The mysterious figure had sent a psychic blast at him after he sent a wild swing his way, his aura enhanced reflexes were pushed to the side in an instance. He formed a small blue ball of aura and chucked it forward, the stranger doing the same with a psychic blast of his own, the two forces of energy colliding and shooting up towards the sky.

 **"You don't want to do this."**

Satoshi stood tall and removed his hat, scarf and shirt, focusing his breathing and grabbing hold of two capsules from his back.

"Reveal yourself, or prepare for battle."

The mysterious figure laughed deeply.

" **Let's see how this goes, shall we?"**

Satoshi threw the pokeballs up into the air and both burst open at their apex. Bursts of bright light engulfed the area and two small Pokémon materialized by his side. A weavile and pupitar stood close to their trainer, awaiting his command. Satoshi figured the mysterious figure was either a Pokémon that could communicate with humans easily, or a very powerful psychic.

Satoshi nodded his head toward the figure and the two Pokémon burst into action, weavile zigzagging towards its enemy while pupitar hovered around its opponent, both looking for an entry for the first attack.

Satoshi did not let his guard down, he flared up his aura and prepared for another attack, his tattoos radiating a deep blue.

* * *

This had gone on long enough. He was here to help, not to fight.

The psychic Pokemon grunted as he was bombarded with attacks from every angle, he did not want to injure the other Pokémon, but he did want the fight to end.

He sensed another human making its way towards them, another small problem to add onto his current one. He growled as he let loose a large amount of energy in all directions, throwing his attackers back at its trainer who was radiating with aura.

The Pokémon disappeared quickly and stood in front of a young woman, her mouth open wide and ready to scream before he touched her forehead with his finger. The young girl vanishing in this air as he himself teleported back to the small clearing.

 **"That is enough!"** His voice boomed

"Are you sure? I was just warming up. The young man grinned as he complied a great mass of aura in both hands. The Pokémon stripped itself of its cloak, showing its true form to the man before him.

 **"I am MewTwo."**

The clearing was unbearably silent.

 **"I am here to help you Satoshi. Or should I say, Ash."**


End file.
